Songbird Smuggler From O.C. Sentenced To Home Detention, Probation

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA – A Garden Grove man was sentenced today to probation and eight months of home detention for attempting to smuggle more than two dozen Asian songbirds into the United States hidden in a suitcase at Los Angeles International Airport.

Can Thanh Nguyen, 63, was found guilty in March of importing and bringing protected Asian songbirds into the United States for profit in violation of federal law. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Mitchell unsuccessfully argued that Nguyen deserved prison time.

Nguyen took "27 helpless creatures ... cramming them into a suitcase'' and sending them into an international flight's cargo hold "where temperatures are sub-freezing,'' the prosecutor told U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald.

The birds -- which sell for up to $400 each at Chinese markets in Southern California -- were hidden in cages wrapped in foil or newspaper underneath a layer of foil and clothing to avoid detection. Two were already dead, and several others died shortly after being found.

"This is a case that cries out for prison,'' Mitchell told the court.

Defense attorney Georgina Wakefield countered that a probationary sentence was appropriate based on Nguyen's age, poor health, lack of funds and time spent in a prison camp following the Vietnam War.

"He has had a rough life, as many residents of Little Saigon have,'' the judge said.

Fitzgerald said if not for Nguyen's "very precarious'' life circumstances, he would probably impose a sentence of six months behind bars and fine him. "I find myself forced, regrettably,'' to order a three-year term of probation and home detention, the judge said.

The defendant declined an opportunity to speak to the court.

Nguyen, who had a long history of international travel, landed at LAX on April 20, 2015, stating to authorities that he was not carrying any animals or wildlife products.

However, he was subsequently referred by a customs officer to a secondary agricultural inspection point. During that examination, officers discovered the 27 Asian songbirds that had been carefully concealed in his suitcase.

Eleven of the Asian songbirds birds found in Nguyen's suitcase were identified as Chinese Hwamei, Garrulax canorus, a type of Asian songbird which is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna -- CITES.

The case "should serve as a warning for individuals who are cashing in by trafficking and selling exotic wildlife that they will be held accountable for their crimes,'' said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles. "

"Their greed and reckless disregard causes incalculable harm to our environment,'' he said.

• Also see: 6 From O.C., 18 to 28 Years Old, Charged With Murdering Man In San Juan Capistrano

--City News Service/Image of Chinese Hwamei by Charles Lam - originally posted to Flickr as Watching Back, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/...